In February 1999, a new national collective agreement for 400,000 members of the Italian police and other public security forces was signed. The innovative aspects of the agreement concern working hours, the introduction of a supplementary occupational pensions fund, incentive payments and a more participatory industrial relations system.
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In February 1999, a new national collective agreement for 400,000 members of the Italian police and other public security forces was signed. The innovative aspects of the agreement concern working hours, the introduction of a supplementary occupational pensions fund, incentive payments and a more participatory industrial relations system.
On 17 February 1999, the government, the police workers' trade union (Sindacato unitario lavoratori di polizia, Siulp) and trade union organisations affiliated to the Cgil, Cisl and Uil confederations signed a new national collective agreement for military and civil public security workers.
In Italy, the management of public security is entrusted to a number different bodies. According to their activities, these bodies are governed by either: the Ministry of the Interior- such as the State Police (Polizia di Stato), the penitentiary police, the corps of foresters and the firefighters; or the Ministry of Defence- such as the Carabinieri (who, besides police tasks, also have the role of military gendarmes) and the Guardia di Finanza, financial police whose role includes guarding the borders.
The differences in the regulation of these two systems are reflected both in the contents of negotiations and in the methods and actors involved in bargaining. Negotiations are carried out by different delegations at different bargaining tables - one for civil police forces and, in parallel, another, for the armed forces. Workers in the civil system are represented by Cgil, Cisl and Uil sectoral trade unions while workers in the military system are represented by elected representative bodies regulated by law. Despite the differences, every effort is made to try to find coordinated bargained solutions for all the workers. The agreement signed on 17 February 1999 achieves this objective, because it defines a common approach for the workers that work in the two systems.
Under the new agreement, the industrial relations system for military and civil public security workers is articulated as follows.
Collective bargaining at national level which is valid for all public security personnel.
A national framework agreement covering each individual public security organisation (police, firefighting etc). These agreements have a four-year duration and may concern: the economic resources to be allocated in order to improve the efficiency of local services; the matters which are to be dealt with in decentralised bargaining; the principles which regulate the distribution and the organisation of shift work; staff training and updating policies; criteria for scheduling working hours and overtime work; and management of social services for employees.
Decentralised bargaining at local level in each individual organisation. This will deal with the following subjects: enforcement of national collective agreements; implementation of incentive systems (see below); staff training and updating plans; health and safety at the workplace; management of social services for employees; and positive actions for equality between women and men.
This new industrial relations system is integrated with new participation procedures, which involve:
information. Meetings between the various administrations and the unions will take place every six months, and the former will inform the latter in advance about issues such as the organisation of offices and work, personnel training initiatives, initiatives to improve the quality of service, working time organisation, the external mobility of staff, or on-call shifts. On such subjects, the unions may ask for a joint examination to be held by the partners. Such meetings must take place within 48 hours from the request and must end with a written report;
consultation. The subjects for consultation are the definition of "personnel organisational charts", juridical and security aspects of the employment relationship, introduction of new technologies, and reorganisation processes affecting offices and services. Consultation will take place both at national and decentralised level; and
participation. A "conference" is established at national level, bringing together all the national representatives of the various administrations and of the workers, which will be responsible for tackling all the problems linked to the modernisation of public security structures and services. A number of committees having the same objectives, though at local level, will also be established.
The agreement also covers the following issues:
incentive payments. A system of incentive payments is introduced through the creation of a single "fund for institutional service efficiency". The fund will be financed, as in all the other public service national collective agreements, by a contribution of 0.8% of paybill, by management economies and by the reduction of overtime work allocations. The criteria for the distribution of these funds will be defined by national and decentralised collective bargaining;
working time. The previous working week of 37 hours is reduced to 36 hours for all the workers;
supplementary occupational pensions. The agreement provides for the establishment of one or more supplementary occupational pensions funds. Workers will be able to join these funds on a voluntary basis. The way the funds will be managed will be defined by lower-level bargaining, as will the decisions concerning how much of the current end-of-service allowance (Trattamento di fine rapporto, Tfr) fund to allocate to supplementary pensions; and
pay increases. The agreement provides for an average monthly pay increase of ITL 130,000 and the re-evaluation of allowances. A one-off allowance of ITL 1.5 million is established for the personnel transferred to another location for service reasons. The way in which the buona uscita(a sort of severance pay) will be transformed into Tfr will be defined by lower-level bargaining.
All the signatory trade union organisations were satisfied with the contents of the agreement, which they consider "the best among all the agreements that could have been possibly signed". The only exception is the independent union police workers's union, Sindacato autonomo dei lavoratori della Polizia, (Sap), criticised by the confederal unions for not participating in the negotiations, which did not approve the contents of the agreement.
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (1999), New collective agreement signed for police forces, article.
